A rare antique camera bought at RG Scotts’ antique emporium in Margate has been sold at auction for £20,000.
The 19th century Auguste Bertsch’s Chambre Automatique camera – which also has a microscope – was bought by Paul Laidlaw from BBC’s Antiques Road Trip for just £60. The whopping profit is being donated to Children in Need.
Paul made the discovery while in Ronnie Scott’s store at The Old Ice Works in Bath Place filming for series 15 of the show.
Five phone bidders and interest online and in the sales room ended when the gavel came down at £20,000, selling to a private collector in Switzerland.
The rare camera was from a collection of goods taken to RG Scotts from a private estate. Scotts and Junk Deluxe, which operates from the same building and was founded by Ronnie’s son Benjamin Scott, said they are delighted that the £19,940 profit has gone to the Children in Need charity.
Benjamin said: “We’re really delighted as we already support children’s charities, but usually with our time and efforts, we’d never be able to contribute a big chunk of cash like that.”
It’s not the first TV appearance for Scotts and Junk Deluxe, they featured on Quest’s Salvage Hunter in 2014 when dealer Drew Pritchard made a trip to the south east.
The Antiques Road Trip episode featuring RG Scotts and the camera will be aired on BBC 1 on Friday (September 29) at 4.30pm.
RG Scotts is open 9:30am – 1pm, 2pm – 5pm. Closed Wednesdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Find out more at http://scottsmargate.co.uk/index.php
Junk Deluxe is open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9.30am-1pm then 2pm-5pm
Find out more at www.junkdeluxe.co.uk
